Murder at TCW
by ThatWriterGirlWWE
Summary: Slight AU: Private investigator, Roman Reigns has been assigned to investigate the death of a wrestling promoter. Things get complicated and he ends up getting into more than he originally signed up for: twists, turns, lies, corruption...and love? Roman/Sasha, with appearances by various WWE Superstars.
1. Chapter 1

**If you read my fics, you'll notice that I tend to keep it WWE. This is different because it's a _slight_ AU. I kind of wanted to stray but keep one foot in wrestling and one foot out. I'll be uploading 6 chapters at once today.  
**

* * *

Eventually, Roman thought he'd get used to it. He hadn't. The sight of a dead body was never an easy sight to see especially one in this condition. Just looking at the picture made him want to gag. The file photo of the older guy's face looked unrecognizable in the crime scene photos but it was him: same height, same build, same bald head.

Roman's boss, Ambrose looked at him with an amused expression on his face. It appeared as if a smile was twitching on his lips but he decided against it when he saw the look in Roman's eyes. Ambrose had been doing this for a very long time and seemed to have developed a ghoulish outlook on life. He'd often brag to Roman after a few drinks that he'd seen it all and all wasn't pretty.

Ambrose was a little odd, but likeable. He'd been a street kid all of his life. He got into the PI business in his late teens by helping out a neighbor who wanted him to stalk his wife to find out if she was cheating on him. _She was. _Next thing you know, a friend of that neighbor contacted him asking if he could do the same for him. She was cheating too. By the time Ambrose was 18, he was ready to go legit. The operation started small but now he had 4 firms in major cities, a few personal assistants and Roman.

How did Roman fit you ask? First of all, his name wasn't "Roman," it was Joe but Ambrose thought in this line of work that it'd be better if they used code names. As a 6'3, 265 pounds Samoan, he was destined for football greatness but when a health issue that he'd rather not talk about ended his career, he had nothing left. He worked a few administrative jobs here and there since his degree from Georgia Tech was in management but a suit, tie and conversations in the break room just wasn't for him. He worked as a club bouncer, a bodyguard and a security guard but he was still searching for more. That's when he saw Ambrose's cryptic ad on Craigslist.

Ambrose liked Roman right away and hired him on the spot. That was 5 years ago and they've been working together ever since. Some of the clients were high profile, so discretion was a necessity. His good looks helped in that department. He was able to transform himself into whatever the job required. One minute he was rocking a suit like a boss, the next minute he looked like your average Polynesian on the beach catching son, the minute after that he was rocking a black vest on a street corner looking like the baddest motherfucker in town. Sometimes he felt guilty because the conclusion to his investigations usually ended in arrests, divorces and sometimes even death when he was hired by shady guys to help locate someone.

"Where's his…you know?" Roman stared at the crime scene photo again. The body was nude with a very important body part missing.

Ambrose almost grinned again but refrained. "Whoever did this chopped it off. The coroner's report doesn't say this but word around town is it's shoved up his ass."

"Yikes," Roman grimaced.

Rule number one in private investigating is to find out who profited from the death. The motive may not always be money especially when someone is killed as brutal as this guy was. This had to have been personal or for revenge. Find the motive and you'll usually find the killer.

"Who is he?"

"This is, well this _was_, Thad Cameron. He was this legendary wrestler for WWE back in the day. After he retired, he started his own independent promotion, Thad Championship Wrestling or TCW," Ambrose informed.

"Wrestling?" Roman's brow knitted. "That fake, carny shit? Who still watches it besides trailer trash? I haven't watched WWE since it was WWF when I was like 6!"

"You'd be surprised," Ambrose muttered. "The fanbase is large and diverse so don't knock it. It's a pretty big industry actually. WWE is worth billions!"

"What the hell makes you want to be involved with something like this?"

Ambrose looked around as if he wanted to make sure no one was listening which confused Roman because they were alone. "A really obscene amount of money is what. I don't even know who we're working for. I was hired by another PI firm, who was hired by a lawyer, who is paying all of us from an untraceable account. No one is talking. I tried to look into it and got some pretty harsh words from the lawyer, telling me they're not paying me to investigate them, they're paying me to make it go away."

It seemed the wrestling business wasn't too different from other entertainment industries. It was never about justice, it was about covering your own ass and the people up top paid big bucks to make it all disappear like it never happened. It didn't matter if innocent people got hurt or had lives ruined, as long of none of it stuck to them.

Ambrose saw him frowning. "You need to get over it, Roman. I'm paying double rates on this case. They really want to find out who did it. Believe it or not, we're the good guys this time."

Roman laughed in disbelief. "Us, good guys? Nonsense. You're lucky I have bills due. What are the cops saying?"

"Much of nothing," Ambrose shook his head before handing Roman a folder. "This is a list of sponsors, business associates and of course, the wrestlers. You take most of the female wrestlers because women always respond to you better."

"Or, you could get Charlotte to do it. A woman may feel more comfortable with another woman," Roman suggested. Charlotte was one of their top PIs.

"Actually, I'm sending both of you. You can take turns; let her be the bad guy on one and you on the next. Go shake some trees, Big Dog. Let's see what kind of shit falls out."


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't know about this one, Roman," Sonya Deville looked over the file in the office the next day. "This was a pretty big promotion and there are over 50 possible suspects who worked for him and most of them have alibis."

"Most?" Roman raised a brow.

"All but 8."

"Do you know who they are?"

She nodded. "Yep, got them highlighted right here. They claim that they were home alone and the detectives think they're telling the truth."

"Just in case they aren't, send a few PIs to follow them," he ordered.

"Done. Let's not even get into the other indie wrestling promotions who could've wanted this Cameron guy dead. This shit is a headache," she rubbed her temples. "The case is going to be a nasty one for sure."

"Which is why he needs to watch that sexy back of his," Mandy said, entering the room. "It would be a shame if we lost the only male eye candy we have here, don't you think?"

"Since when have I cared about _male_ eye candy," Sonya said 'male' as if it tasted bad on her tongue.

Sonya was a lesbian, Mandy was bi and her partner, at work and at home. His first encounter with them was at Ambrose's birthday party held at a local bar. Mandy walked in and was all over Roman until Sonya snatched her away.

"Still not open to that threesome yet, babe?" Mandy teased Sonya.

Sonya scoffed. "Not tomorrow, not today, not yesterday."

They talked a bit more, and he promised that if either of them found anything they would turn it in to Ambrose.

* * *

It seemed wrestlers were late sleepers since most performed at night so Roman met up with Charlotte at about one that afternoon. Charlotte was a tall, muscular blonde. Her dad was the called "the dirtiest cop in the game" and once he was kicked off the force he began PI work. Years later, she found herself doing the same.

"What does Andrade think about all this?" Roman asked of her new boyfriend.

"He doesn't care as long as he thinks I'm safe," she replied. They arrived at their first stop and she reviewed his file as the car came to a stop in front of a rundown apartment. "Braun Strowman. Wow, he's a big guy."

"I think this is it," Roman muttered, reading the numbers on the door and comparing it to the apartment number on file.

"You go first," Charlotte stood behind him as Roman knocked on the door.

"Come in," a gruff voice on the other side yelled out. A tall mountain of a man was standing inside. Roman considered himself a big guy but Braun had to have been at least 6'8 and well over 300 pounds. His barrel chest and massive shoulder muscles were on full display thanks to the black muscle shirt he wore. The lighting was dim and the living room they stood in looked dingy. There appeared to be shoes and clothes scattered around on the floor. Braun seemed to notice them looking around. "Sit down before I change my mind!"

Roman took a seat in a recliner. Instead of cushion, the only thing he felt was springs underneath his ass. Charlotte took off her blazer and laid it onto the sofa before sitting down. He looked over to make sure she had her phone ready to record before questioning him. "How well did you know Mr. Cameron?"

"I worked for him for most of 3 years but I didn't know him. I don't think anyone knew him to be honest. He didn't say much backstage unless it was match or booking related. He wasn't unfriendly, just... professional."

"If you have to guess, who in the company would you say knew him the best?" Roman inquired.

"Probably his assistant, Alexa. I don't think she _knew_ him either but she knew and arranged his schedule, transferred his calls and set up his meetings."

"Where would I find her?"

Braun shrugged. "I wouldn't know. She was gone days before the murder. I don't know if she took off on vacation or quit."

"Have you ever seen him argue with anyone?" Charlotte asked.

"Have I? When have I not?" Braun snorted. "The guy was cheap and like most wrestling promoters, he was sheisty. Someone was always after him for trying to fuck them over. I don't know how you feel about what I do, but look at me. I have average looks, I barely finished high school and had no skills at anything. I would have probably spent my whole life slaving in the hot sun making minimum wage if it wasn't for him. He saw me working out at a gym, approached and the rest is history. I thought I had a dream job. The women backstage were hot and the women in the crowd were hot, mostly. The ones who weren't were usually worn out ring rats."

"What's a ring rat?" Charlotte raised a brow.

"Girls who hang around shows for the sole purpose of fucking wrestlers," he replied.

"Oh, gotcha," she nodded.

"And they were willing to do just about anything," Braun smirked and his mind appeared to drift as if he was thinking about some of it.

Roman cleared his throat. "Can we get back on track here?"

"Anyway, we weren't WWE, NJPW or even TNA where there are contracts and guaranteed money. No way. We were paid by the show and if you weren't booked that night, you weren't paid. He did let us have the opportunity to make money on the side by setting up tables after the show so we could charge fans for merch, autographs and photos. For the most part I was always on the card so I was always paid. It was fine until I found out what guys were making in other indie promotions. Because I wasn't under contract I told Cameron to kiss my ass and went on to another promotion to make double. It wasn't a contracted job either so a few months later he called and offered a better deal."

"Interesting," Roman mumbled. "How long are you going to be doing this especially now that Cameron is dead?"

"Who knows," Braun shrugged. "You get into this business knowing that your career could be over with one bad fall but we still do it because we love it. I'm going to do it until I can't no more. Unfortunately, no one is returning my calls right now."

Roman stood and shook his hand. "I think that's it for now. If we have any questions we'll contact you or swing back by."

The next wrestler on the list was Naomi. She seemed nice enough as she invited them in. Like, Braun, she didn't really know Thad beyond business. It couldn't have been her who killed him they concluded because she was nearly depressed about the loss of her steady income. She tried to contact a few more companies but no one had anything for her. If she didn't find something soon she'd be out on the streets.

"Look, I'm sure you're going to be talking to other promoters during the investigation so if you can, slide one of these to them," Naomi said, handing Roman a stack of business cards. "The words glow in the dark. Roman, is it?"

"Yep," he nodded.

"You're a handsome guy. Are you married?"

"I'm single but I'm not looking for anyone at the moment," he said. It was true. With this career, he was away from home more often than not. Besides, relationships only complicated things especially since discretion is key in his line of work. Most women weren't going to go for, '_I can't talk about it.'_

"Damn," she sighed. "Do you at least have a brother, cousin or uncle? Help a sista out!"

He felt bad for her situation so he raked his brain to think about it. "As a matter of fact, I do have a cousin. Jimmy. I'll give him your card."

"Does he look like you?"

"I don't think so but you can tell we're related. He's a twin and a good guy so if he likes you enough he'll help you out."

"What does he do?"

"Sergeant at a penitentiary," Roman revealed.

Their last interview of the day was with a woman who appeared to be in her late 30s, Mickie James. "Thad was an asshole, plain and simple. He'd tread lightly around the top girls who could make him money but older women like me? He treated us like we were disposable, less than dirt. I'm considered a legend in this business but still I was sent out there to be jobbed and make bitches that don't have half my talent look good. I hated him for what my career became but kill him I did not. Good luck on finding out who did though because I'm sure the list of suspects is loooong."

Roman and Charlotte continued on, interviewing everyone associated with TCW while Ambrose followed the money, talking to accountants and lawyers.


	3. Chapter 3

Ambrose wasn't talking much about what he'd learned so far which was unusual for them. They usually shared every piece of information no matter how small hoping one of them would see something the other missed. The police were becoming frustrated and the case was slowly fading out of the spotlight. The media didn't gave a damn anymore after the next big story hit the news. Thad didn't leave a wife and his adult kids were estranged so no one besides wrestling fans were pushing to find his killer.

Finn Balor, another PI who specialized in forensic details shivered in disgust when Roman approached. "This guy was killed at a wrestling venue. We got 250 DNA samples because apparently sanitation was not very high backstage. Included in that was semen, vaginal secretions, saliva and because accidents happen in the ring, lots and lots of blood. We've identified less than half, and all have been eliminated from suspicion. Unless we get lucky, this is going to end up a cold case pretty quick. You got anything?"

Roman shook his head. "Nah, most of the people Flair and I interviewed added nothing new. Ambrose find anything on the money trail?"

"So far he hasn't said a word besides recanting what you and Char have found. I did my own independent research though and found out that Thad was living well above his means. He was always just on the edge of bankruptcy. His accountants said that he had to keep jacking up the prices on PPV events, ticket costs and subscriptions on the TCW website just to maintain payroll and his bills. Something else that kept him afloat was a huge deposits made to his bank account ever so often. The trail went cold at an offshore bank and there's no way in hell those guys will give up anything about who made the deposits."

They talked in general and Finn told him about a few other cases he was working on but Roman's mind kept drifting wondering why Ambrose hadn't turned any information over to the police. Roman decided to ask Ambrose later that day.

Ambrose's face darkened. "Look, Roman, stay out of it. You do your job and let me handle mine. Understood? Remember, we don't work for the cops, we work for the client."

Oh, Roman understood all right and he knew that withholding information from the police, especially on a murder case, was both unwise and illegal. It was Ambrose's ass though when shit hit the fan unless he dragged the rest of them down with him.

* * *

Weeks went by and the case officially went cold. It bothered Roman but there was nothing he could do about it. Ambrose gave them all a nice bonus for their work. He felt guilty for taking it. They hadn't done any real investigation besides going through the motions. The fact that they weren't really expected to find anything irritated him.

Life went on. He'd worked five cases since the murder. At the moment, he was working another case: A wife, Lana hired him to follow her husband, Rusev who she suspected of cheating. Apparently he had a weakness for strippers. The guy must've had money to blow which meant the strip club was upscale instead of low class establishments that allowed women with bullet wounds and/or baby bumps to dance. Roman was thankful for this because he'd seen some wild shit over the years. There was one club so bad he not only showered but burned the clothes he wore there after getting a lap dance.

The strippers were top of the line looking more like supermodels than pole dancers. The waitresses looked like flight attendants wearing pencil skirts, a crisp blouse, their hair in buns and red lipstick. Men who appeared to be well into their late 50s or early 60s were sitting around with their 20 year old sugar babies. Business men and executives were making deals over drinks.

Roman's target was harassing a blonde. Finally, Rusev convinced her to give him a private show and they disappeared off into one the back rooms. Unfortunately, Roman couldn't follow because 1. he'd have to be accompanied by a stripper he was paying and 2. while getting a private dance was sleazy, it technically wasn't cheating. He thought about going back to his car to wait for Rusev to come out and follow him but decided to wait a while. If Rusev went home with the stripper or to a motel, Roman would brief Lana on it. If not, he'd continue following him.

Even though the wives expected to hear that the husband was caught, they rarely took it well. Some of them cried. Some of them threatened death against him or herself. Some of them promised to make his life a living hell. Some of them did all three. And then, some of them forgave as long as he never, ever did it again. Spoiler alert: they always do.

He was just about to leave when a waitress carrying a tray gasped as she walked by. "Roman? Is that you?"

He squinted his eyes in the dark room. "Naomi?"

"Yeah, but I'm going by my real name these days, Trinity," she slid into the booth with him. He could see that she was wearing waitress attire.

"I gave your card to a few promoters but if you're here, I guess they didn't call," he shook his head sympathetically.

"It's okay," she waved him off. "I actually like this better. This is where the richest men in the city come to blow off steam. I make more in one night walking around here collecting tips than what I made busting my ass in the ring for a full Friday, Saturday and Sunday weekend. Unfortunately, I'll have to find something else soon because thanks to you, I have a boyfriend now and I don't think he's going to tolerate this too much longer. The only reason he isn't here stalking me is because he was banned. I started as a dancer but when he stopped by and saw me do a backflip and land into a full split he practically dragged me off stage. I was fired on the spot but the patrons complained because they liked seeing someone around here with a big ass instead of just DD breast implants for a change so my boss decided to keep me on as a waitress."

"Jimmy?" Roman raised a brow.

"Yes sir," she smiled. "I guess you Samoan men are possessive with your women."

"Kind of, sort of," he wiggled his hand. "I'm happy your situation has improved. He's a good guy and I hope you two make it work."

"Thank you," she looked over her shoulder. "My boss is side eying me right now and I don't think he's going to give me a 3rd chance so I better get back to work. Wait, before I go, any updates on Thad's case?"

"Nothing new," he shook his head.

"Too bad. Nobody deserves to go out the way he did. Oh, that reminds me. I don't know how long you've been here but have you seen a waitress with the purple hair yet? She was a wrestler at TCW, too. Her name is Sasha Banks. Did anyone interview her? I'm sure she'll be willing to talk. I was really hurt when no other promotion would call because I thought the problem was me. Sasha is one of the best female wrestler in the world and no one hired her either. Come to find out, everyone on the roster at the time of Cameron's death was blacklisted because until they find out who did it, we're all murder suspects."

"Sasha, you say?" his head turned to locate her but in the process he saw Rusev leaving so he jumped up without saying goodbye. On his way out he bumped into the purple haired waitress. She was petite compared to him so he almost knocked her over. He couldn't get a good look at her because of the dark lighting. Going into his wallet, he pulled out 150 dollars. "Trinity is a friend of mine. I ran off on her a minute ago. Give the 100 to her for her tip and you keep the 50 for your troubles."

The cash didn't come directly from him. On cases like this, Ambrose give him allotted money to blow. How would he blend in as a guy at the strip club if he wasn't throwing around money?

On the outside, he saw his cousin Jimmy parked right at the door which made him chuckle but Roman didn't have time to chat. He followed Rusev straight to a motel and a few minutes later the blonde stripper from the club showed up. Roman took his camera out and got the perfect shot of him opening the door for her.


	4. Chapter 4

The next night around the same time, Roman went back to the club. He stood at the back for a while to figure out which section was Sasha's. Once he established that, he took his seat.

Sasha walked over to him. "What can I get you?"

"Do you have a minute? Can I talk to you in private?"

"Excuse me?" she snapped, taking a wary step back. "I am a waitress and a waitress _only_. If you're looking for someone to _'talk to_' in private the stage is that way and you can take your pick. I'll be more than welcome to send one to your table after their performance is over."

"I think you're mistaken," Roman clarified. "I'm not looking for any of that. I don't know if you remember but it was me who bumped into you last night. I gave you a tip for yourself and Trinity."

"Oh yeah, that was you. Sorry, I see so many men in one night that the faces become blurred. Thanks for the cash. It was a slow night for me because I'm not as friendly as some of the other waitresses so I probably make the least in tips. What business do you have with Trin?"

"I'm looking for information on the murder of Thad Cameron. I spoke to her and now I want to talk to you since you also wrestled for TCW," he informed.

If Roman hadn't seen it coming, Sasha would have hit the floor. He was fast though and quickly moved to catch her. He laid her down across the table.

One of the bouncers ran over. He was tall, balding and had lots of tattoos. He had a tag on his shirt, Baron C. "What happened? What the fuck did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her besides inquire about information that she may know," Roman replied.

"McIntyre, bring me a bottle of water," Baron yelled at another bouncer before turning back to Roman.. "Look, buddy, I don't know who the hell you are but as you can see, apparently she doesn't want to answer your questions. If you ain't a cop you need to get the fuck out of here."

Roman seized him up. Baron had height but Roman was built better and he figured he could take him in a fight but if Jimmy got banned for what happened with Naomi, he knew he'd get banned for beating up a bouncer. The way things were looking he'd need this place in the future. He stood and pulled out his card and 200 dollars. "I'm not here looking for trouble. When she wakes, give her this card. I'm not a cop but I'm sure she'd rather talk to me than them. All I need is a few minutes of her time and after that she'll never have to see me again. It has nothing to do with this club. I'm looking for information on a case I've had for some time now. The money is probably what she would've made in tips if she wasn't passed out on my table right now."

The money seemed to soften them up as they walked him to the door. Baron went back inside but McIntyre gave him a talk. His accent sounded similar to Finn but it wasn't exactly Irish. Maybe Scottish. "Sasha is a good girl. She's just a waitress, she doesn't fuck around for money like the other women do. Maybe you're telling the truth about this case, maybe you aren't. I don't know what you want, but if she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't have to. If she tells us you're harassing her the least of your concerns will be getting back in the club."

* * *

The next morning, Roman went to meet with Lana. She appeared stoic but he knew all too well that it was an act. He hated this part of his job but he tried to do it as professionally as he could to lighten the blow.

"Lana, I'm afraid your suspicion is correct. Rusev is in fact cheating on you."

Lana sniffled and took a deep breath, but she remained composed. "How many were there?"

"I followed him two nights in a row. The first night he went to a motel with a stripper he'd accosted at the club. The next night he hired a prostitute that he received oral sex from in his car."

"Wow, what am I going to do now?"

"I'm not a marriage counselor so I can't tell you. I do strongly recommend you get tested because neither woman seemed selective about their partners. If you want you can contact one of my partners, Charlotte. She has compiled a list of marriage counselors, divorce lawyers, and suicide prevention hotlines."

"Suicide?" Lana scoffed. "If I committed suicide, who would get the half that's owed to me in the divorce? Don't worry, I'll be just fine."

Roman walked back to his desk rethinking his career path. He was slowly becoming jaded and he wondered if this is what Ambrose felt at all times.

* * *

Keeping with the theme of fucked up marriages, the next was an abusive spouse but with a twist. The woman was the abuser even though she was a little person compared to him. Her name was Zelina, his name was Aleister. He showed Roman scars all across his body and one in his head.

After Roman got over the shock he began talking. "Why? What set her off like this?"

"I don't know! We've only recently gotten married. I guess it's true you don't really know a person until you start living together," Aleister concluded.

"Are you planning on leaving her? If you've suffered that much abuse and you're still with her, there isn't shit I can do for you. Unless you can give me a reason to stay, I'm gone because I'm not wasting my time or your money. "

He held up a picture of a little boy. "This is our son. She hasn't touched him of course but he's getting older and him witnessing what she's doing to me won't be good."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Look at me and then look at her. Who would believe it? I want to bug my house and set up hidden cameras. The evidence should be enough to get her out and get me a restraining order."

"Does Zelina work?"

"Not at the moment."

"Well, I need you to get her out of the house for a few hours to give me a chance to set up. Once I'm done and you two get home you have to be natural. No acting. No looking into the cameras. Do you understand, Mr. Black?"

"I do," he nodded. "Will you be watching?"

"No, but I'll have a few employees at the office in charge of monitoring the cameras. I have to go but call me when you and Zelina get out of the house. Leave a key under the mat so we can have access to the house," he instructed.

Charlotte smiled when Roman climbed back in the car. "You told me to answer your phone if it rang while you were inside the house. A girl named Sasha just called. She said you'd remember her from the club. She sounded nice."

For a while, he and Charlotte were both single. Now that she had Andrade she was determined to hook Roman up too. According to her, he was too good of a man to deprive some woman of a decent boyfriend.


	5. Chapter 5

It took Roman a minute but when he got settled, he immediately called Sasha back. She sounded nervous when she answered and was slow to respond to questions. He decided to put her mind at ease.

"Sasha, the case is over so nothing you say will be held against you. This is just another unsolved murder that'll soon be forgotten. For my own sanity, I'm just trying to make sure I didn't miss anything. The killer is still walking the streets and it bothers me to think that it's because I didn't do my job well enough. I'm not here to judge you or anything. I just want to know what you know."

"Okay," Sasha sighed on the other end of the phone. "There's a Starbucks around the corner from the club. Meet me there at 1:15."

Roman was shocked at her appearance. Their last two run-ins happened in the darkness of the club. She was beautiful and without makeup she looked younger than he first thought. "How old are you?"

She seemed surprised at the question. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm 27. How old are you?"

"Not that it's any of yours, either but I'm 33."

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face before disappearing. "So, what do you want? I'm broke. The money I make in the club leaves my hand and goes directly to my bills so you're shit out of luck if you plan on blackmailing me in the end."

"Look, all I want from you is to answer a few questions. That's it. Before you ask 'what kind of questions,' they're not personal. This is strictly concerning Thad Cameron and TCW. After that, we have nothing more to talk about," he made clear.

She took a deep breath which raised her chest. She was a small woman and that included her breast but still, he looked. She smirked. "Like what you see?"

"Absolutely. A woman who looks like you should be admired and appreciated. It doesn't mean I'm trying to fuck or anything. It just means I appreciate the sight. Now, moving on to those questions…"

His honesty seemed to shock her. She bit her bottom lip into a smile. "Okay, ask away. Just remember, my eyes are up here."

"How well did you know Thad Cameron? How did you meet? Did you notice anything unusual surrounding him? Did any conversation or interaction stand out?"

Sasha blinked rapidly, trying to hold back tears. "This is my truth and you're the first person to hear it. I was like everyone else at TCW; I loved wrestling. With the bigger companies like WWE women there who were models or wannabe actresses trying to use the business as a stepping stone to get into Hollywood. Not me. I grew up with a single parent and a younger brother with autism. We were homeless a lot and moved often. Wrestling was the only escape to the struggles in my life and it ultimately became my dream to chase."

"Are you okay?" Roman asked when she stopped for a minute. He noticed that she was gripping the edge of the table.

She nodded before picking up where she left off. "I was working at one of the lower tier indie promotion. I was wrestling a match that received a standing ovation at the end. When I looked out into the crowd, Thad was one of the faces. He met me after the show and asked me to join him. Thad was in the WWE Hall of Fame and had won 14 championships. I figured that he was still connected to them in some way. The way I saw it, if I worked for him, they'd have their eyes on the product which would lead to me being signed. At the time I didn't know that he'd had a bad falling out with WWE so chances were they weren't giving his promotion a second glance. Remember, I mentioned my autistic brother? Recently, his behavior had gotten worse. He needed help that we couldn't give him. My mom thought it'd be best if he was temporarily hospitalized to be monitored to figure out the best way to treat him before he's released. The problem was, neither of us could afford it. There were cheap places but I wanted him in a facility that I didn't have to worry about him being in. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing he was being neglected or mistreated. That meant the best and the best was expensive. I was desperate. I had no savings. I auctioned off gear but it didn't put a dent in the expenses. That's when I decided to call Thad. At first I just asked to be on the card more often because he was a pay by play person."

"So I heard," Roman mumbled, remembering the conversation with Braun.

"I had match after match but it still wasn't enough. That's when…" she trailed off as a sob came out. He handed her a napkin. She dabbed but the more she did, the more the tears flowed.

"Sasha, you can stop now. I don't want to take you back to a place that's obviously painful. I want to thank you for your time and the information you gave. There seems to be a common theme with Cameron: cheap and shady," Roman deduced, standing to his feet.

"Wait," she grabbed his arm, causing him to sit back down. "What happened was crazy. I got the money to put my brother through the evaluation and he's so much better now. Thad Cameron wasn't shit but I didn't kill him. I was home in my apartment when it happened. I didn't shed one tear when I heard the news. I am sad though that my wrestling career is over because no one will touch us now. I started wrestling at 18 so it's all I've ever known. I didn't know what I'd do until I ran into Trinity. She could tell that I wasn't adjusting well to life after wrestling. Real jobs weren't hiring someone with nothing on their resume besides wrestling so she hooked me up with my job at the club."

Roman's opinion of both women raised. "Sasha, once again, thank you. Just know that all of this information is strictly confidential. I'm sorry about your brother and I'm sorry about whatever you had to go through to help him. I guess I'll be on my way. It was nice meeting you. If there's another cheating, stripper addicted husband, I'm sure you'll see me again but until then, take care of yourself."

Roman was walking through the parking lot when he heard his name called. "Huh?"

She was running out behind him, stopping when a car drove through in the distance between them. "Did you guys check the safes?"

"Yeah, we checked the one in his office and the one at his house. All together there was a total of 5,000 and a few important documents. That was about it."

Sasha shook her head. "Not _those_ safes. He had one in the floor under his desk. There was another behind a display case showing off all the championships he'd won in the hallway. I saw the one in the floor when Alexa went in there to get something. I saw the one in the hallway because I doubled back to the building after leaving my phone. He was in the process of sliding the display case back over to cover it when he noticed me standing there. I had to promise to never tell anyone what I'd saw and up until now I kept it."

Roman was stunned. He was willing to bet that neither the cops nor Ambrose knew about the additional safes. He was in a dilemma. He knew if he told Ambrose, Ambrose would get into the safes before the cops knew about them. Anything incriminating to their client would be removed and destroyed. He wondered once again who the mysterious client was...


	6. Chapter 6

Roman decided not to tell anyone about the safes, _yet_. In his line of work you meet people from all walks of life. Over the years he'd made friends in high and low places so he knew just who to call. A person would look at Seth Rollins would think that he was just a regular guy but he had skills that you wouldn't believe. No safe was safe once he got his hands on it.

Roman laid everything out to Seth without going into details. The less Seth knew, the better. He used to work for Ambrose as well but gave up his old life of crime for a legit one that paid well and didn't involve the risk of jail time. _Architecture_. Despite his walk on the right path, Seth wasn't above taking a turn back to the dark side every now and then.

"How much trouble will we be in if we get caught?" Seth asked.

"A lot. That all depends on what's in there. If it's something big, I'll have to send an anonymous tip to the cops. The man who owned the safe was murdered and Seth, it wasn't quick so I don't want to fuck around and catch the same fate. That being said, if you think it's too risky, you can pass and I'll contact my secondary guy."

Seth laughed. "Me passing up a risk? Unheard of. I'll do it. However, in the past I wasn't one to snitch but I'll rat you out in a heartbeat to save my own ass."

Because of both of their schedules, it took a few weeks before they could get around to it. Thankfully, no one else knew about the safes so they could take as much time as they needed. Knowing that this was the ultimate plan, Roman had a hard time looking Ambrose in the eye for a while and Ambrose never missed anything so Roman was sure he picked up on it but would have no reason to suspect the reason why. He worked more cases. Aleister got enough footage of Zelina in action to secure his divorce.

Roman and Seth met at the designated location at around midnight. The small venue was not in the best area. He was surprised that something that might've been valuable was stored here. Roman being a PI staked out the area for 4 nights straight before making this move just to observe patterns: did anyone loiter around at night, what times did the cops patrol on that street, was anyone else staking out the building, etc. The place still looked like a crime scene with police tape still up from all those months ago. Roman wondered why no one else kept the place up and operating but apparently the place was foreclosed due to bankruptcy since Thad's death.

Seth picked the locks on the doors and they were in. They walked through the seating area which was littered with beer bottles and trash. He noticed that there was a wrestling ring still set up. Roman kept his eyes peeled for a display case when they walked down a hallway. They came across the office first. There was no need to break into it because the door was open.

Roman put a finger to his mouth to signal quiet. They were disguised in all black wearing skull caps and hoods so no security footage would identify them but they needed to be prepared in case there was voice recorders set up anywhere. When they entered, Roman pointed to the floor behind the desk and Seth nodded. Seth felt around until he found a latch. There was a small safe that he pulled from the hole. Seth was in it almost instantly. Roman bent to look inside and was disappointed when nothing was there. He shook his head as he watched Seth shut the safe and put it in the opening the way he found it.

Before they left, Roman walked over to a filing cabinet. There were many folders inside and he was confused as to why Sasha wasn't listed on any of the tabs. That's when he saw Trinity instead of "Naomi" and realized Sasha probably wasn't "Sasha" at all. He began opening random files with female names until he came across her picture in one. _Mercedes_. He shoved the file into the backpack that he wore.

Roman hoped they wouldn't end up 0-2 when they located the display case. Thad must've been good at what he did because the case was heavy filled with championships as they moved it aside. The safe was door height and width so they weren't surprised to find a small jail cell sized room on the other side after it took Seth less than 3 minutes to open.

It was dark so when they turned on their flashlights they didn't know what to expect. There were multiple stacks of money that lined one side of the wall. Neither had a calculator but they guestimated that it was over half a million. There were documents which Roman took pictures of for the investigation, tapes of shows, a laptop and a ziplock bag full of flash drives. A few of the flash labels were numbered, some said 'important' and a few had names on them which included one that read: Sasha B. He dropped the entire bag of drives, the laptop and a 5 stacks of cash worth 10k each into his backpack. Once he found out what was what he'd send the police a tip.

Seth put everything back the way he found it and they slipped out. He was shaking his head in awe as they made it back to the van. "I've never seen that much money in my life."

"Thinking about doubling back when I'm gone?" Roman chuckled.

"Hell no! That much money is crazy money and crazy money belongs to crazy people. With that amount lying around, you can bet your ass someone is looking for it."

Roman nodded. "You're exactly right. That being said, we don't know if they know how much is in that safe down to the dollar so I took a few stacks for my own reasons. I doubt seriously they will look for it and who are they to suspect Thad didn't take it himself. These two are yours and I suggest you not deposit it, not discuss it, and not spend it all at one time."

"Thank you for not being a greedy idiot. I know a few men who would've walked out of there with as much as they could carry and then gone back for another trip. I'll stash this for a rainy day or a nice vacation. I'll slide the rest into my account a few hundred at a time over a couple of months and no one will ever know. What are you going to do with yours?"

"It's not for me. It's for the woman who told me about the safe. She could use the money, and deserves to get it," Roman said.

Seth smirked. "I knew a woman was involved somewhere or another. Just be careful, man. I don't know about you but I for one will never speak of this again. How about some late night breakfast wayyy on the other side of town?"

They took off all the black they were wearing and went to Denny's. Roman paid and kept the receipt which is why they needed to be wayyy on the other side of town to have an alibi. If anyone needed to know their location before Denny's, they picked out bars that had no surveillance that would prove whether they were there or not and at what times. They actually went into one and Roman made sure to speak to a few people he knew just to have witnesses.

* * *

**To be continued. I don't know if I want to upload one chapter at a time now or wait until I have another big dump like this. **


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